Efeitos de níveis de suplementação de bovinos curraleiro pé duro a pasto

Abstract

Cattle feed supplementation plays a fundamental role in the productive performance of under pasture, but it must be used strategically to avoid the substitution effect, which occurs when the animal reduces forage consumption due to excessive supplement intake, compromising feed efficiency and increasing production costs. The objective was to evaluate the performance of young Curraleiro Pé-Duro (CPD) cattle, at the beginning of the rearing period, at different levels of supplementation on pasture: 0, 0.3; 0.6 and 0.9% of live weight. During the rainy season of 2025, in the municipality of Campo Maior, Piauí, Brasil, 20 young CPD cattle, 10 males and 10 females, aged around 11 months, were reared on pasture. Four treatments with different levels of protein-energy supplementation provided nutrients to optimize the performance of the animals under pasture, totaling four groups with five animals under a completely randomized design. One week of adaptation and six experimental weeks. Being supplemented twice a day, the animals of each group were kept in different paddocks. The performance of the animals was measured by weight gain (kg) and pelvic angle (AP), and the normality of the distribution of residues was assessed by the ShapiroWilk test, verification of outliers (< and > 3, standard deviation in relation to the mean) and improbable data before submitting the data to analysis of variance (ANOVA) with F test with 95% confidence (p-value ≤ 0.05). The animals presented an average of 94.2 kg after the adaptation period, and at the end of the experiment 108.9 kg; the average gain was 446 g. Animal day -1 ; representing almost 0.5% of the initial live weight; which projected the ability of CPD taurines to gain weight under favorable conditions. The treatment with supplementation of 0.9% of BW day -1 showed weight gains of 19 kg per animal in the period of 6 weeks, and the individuals that did not receive supplementation showed performance equivalent to approximately 50% of the highest supplementation level. It is concluded that the proposed objective was met, and it is possible to compare the daily weight gain between the different supplementation levels. The Curraleiro Pé-Duro breed has good productive potential when managed with adequate nutritional practices.